High mileage 2006 c2s tiptronic
12-10-2017, 02:08 AM
#1
Track Day
Thread Starter
High mileage 2006 c2s tiptronic
I have a 2006 c2s with tiptronic which I purchased about a year and a half ago with 99k miles on it. I had it PPI and found the car had been well maintained.
The records shown the major service had been done at 95k miles.
So far, it has been a relatively reliable for a car with high mileage. I drive it about 3-4 days a week to work which is about 70 miles a day round trip.
Since I own it, the maintainance and repairs have been done as follows,
2 Oil changes,
Major Transmission service,
Water pump replaced,
All sparkplug ignitors replaced,
Main brake booster line replaced.
The car has been burning oil within porsche spec, but rather on the highside. There is also a white puff of smoke when starting.
Recently the car has been having issue with hot starting. It would start at the first crank in the morning no problem,
Also easy start in the afternoon on the way home. But if I have to stop for a short time, like getting gas or pick up something quick from the stores,
the car will have a hard time starting. Unless it is parked for longer than 30 mins, it will start like normal again.
I asked my independent mechanic who has been very honest and relatively reasonable to look at hard staring issue,
He ran tests and determined that it was the starter that pulled a lot of current when starting. He said heat would increase electrical resistance
and making it harder for it to start. He quoted $490 to replace the starter.
He also mentioned (I didn't mention to him about the smoke when starting the car) that he noticed white smoke at starting and accelerating
which was the sign that oil separator starting to go. And being a tiptronic, it is more involved to do the job. He quoted $1250.
He said I would probably need it soon.
So I'd like to ask the veteran owners, if these works are reasonable.
Thanks in advance for any input or advice to keep the car in good running conditions.
The records shown the major service had been done at 95k miles.
So far, it has been a relatively reliable for a car with high mileage. I drive it about 3-4 days a week to work which is about 70 miles a day round trip.
Since I own it, the maintainance and repairs have been done as follows,
2 Oil changes,
Major Transmission service,
Water pump replaced,
All sparkplug ignitors replaced,
Main brake booster line replaced.
The car has been burning oil within porsche spec, but rather on the highside. There is also a white puff of smoke when starting.
Recently the car has been having issue with hot starting. It would start at the first crank in the morning no problem,
Also easy start in the afternoon on the way home. But if I have to stop for a short time, like getting gas or pick up something quick from the stores,
the car will have a hard time starting. Unless it is parked for longer than 30 mins, it will start like normal again.
I asked my independent mechanic who has been very honest and relatively reasonable to look at hard staring issue,
He ran tests and determined that it was the starter that pulled a lot of current when starting. He said heat would increase electrical resistance
and making it harder for it to start. He quoted $490 to replace the starter.
He also mentioned (I didn't mention to him about the smoke when starting the car) that he noticed white smoke at starting and accelerating
which was the sign that oil separator starting to go. And being a tiptronic, it is more involved to do the job. He quoted $1250.
He said I would probably need it soon.
So I'd like to ask the veteran owners, if these works are reasonable.
Thanks in advance for any input or advice to keep the car in good running conditions.
12-10-2017, 02:46 AM
#2
Rennlist Member
I also have a 2006 S and had the same issue with hard starting when warm. It wasn't the starter. This is a known issue that is probably the wiring harness between the starter and the alternator (I believe). When I was doing research, here, at the time, someone gave me the following instructions for the tech to perform on my car to determine the cause:
Per Porsche's technical bulletin:
Issue: Battery discharged and/or will not charge properly. Voltage drop due to alternator-starter-battery harness damage at starter terminal. This issue is often mis-diagnosed as a bad battery, bad alternator, or bad starter, and these parts are often replaced in multiple repair attempts before the harness is determined to be the cause of the issue.
Before ordering or replacing other parts, have the car professionally inspected. Check the voltage drop between the alternator and battery. Bring the car to normal operating temperature. Turn on as many power consumers as possible (AC, headlights, radio, defroster, etc.). Use the same grounding point for the following voltage measurements:
- Measure the voltage at the "B+" terminal on the alternator.
- Measure the voltage at the battery positive terminal.
If there is a voltage drop of greater than 0.5 volts between the alternator and the battery, and all of the connection points are tight, check the harness terminal at starter. It is possible that the crimps on the starter terminal where the two cables are joined together incorrectly, causing an excessive voltage drop between the alternator and the battery. This voltage drop does not allow the battery to charge properly, and as a result, the battery will continually discharge until it will no longer start the vehicle. There may be no visible damage to the harness, and more measurements may be necessary to determine which cable or part of the cable is responsible for the voltage drop.
I was able to have mine fixed under my CPO warranty, but I think the cost would have been somewhere close to $800.
Good luck!
Per Porsche's technical bulletin:
Issue: Battery discharged and/or will not charge properly. Voltage drop due to alternator-starter-battery harness damage at starter terminal. This issue is often mis-diagnosed as a bad battery, bad alternator, or bad starter, and these parts are often replaced in multiple repair attempts before the harness is determined to be the cause of the issue.
Before ordering or replacing other parts, have the car professionally inspected. Check the voltage drop between the alternator and battery. Bring the car to normal operating temperature. Turn on as many power consumers as possible (AC, headlights, radio, defroster, etc.). Use the same grounding point for the following voltage measurements:
- Measure the voltage at the "B+" terminal on the alternator.
- Measure the voltage at the battery positive terminal.
If there is a voltage drop of greater than 0.5 volts between the alternator and the battery, and all of the connection points are tight, check the harness terminal at starter. It is possible that the crimps on the starter terminal where the two cables are joined together incorrectly, causing an excessive voltage drop between the alternator and the battery. This voltage drop does not allow the battery to charge properly, and as a result, the battery will continually discharge until it will no longer start the vehicle. There may be no visible damage to the harness, and more measurements may be necessary to determine which cable or part of the cable is responsible for the voltage drop.
I was able to have mine fixed under my CPO warranty, but I think the cost would have been somewhere close to $800.
Good luck!
12-10-2017, 12:09 PM
#3
RL Community Team
Rennlist Member
Rennlist Member
Your problem exhibits the classic symptoms of the bad wiring harness issue and your starter is probably fine. The tech will have to go right by the AOS during the harness replacement, so that's the time to also install the new AOS as it should be done with no additional labor charge, but the cost of the AOS. If you don't do the AOS now and it fails later, you'll pay half the harness labor again to change it. The starter is relatively easy to replace so do the harness first (along with AOS) and see if that resolves your issue, then if necessary, do the starter late,but I bet you don't need to do that.
